Thaworn uses old irons to shoot a 66 and lead
Queen's Cup
Queen's Cup
ASIAN TOUR NEWS RELEASE
Samui, Thailand: Thai veteran star Thaworn Wiratchant took his customary position atop the leaderboard at the weather-hit Queen’s Cup following an opening five-under-par 66 today.
Samui, Thailand: Thai veteran star Thaworn Wiratchant took his customary position atop the leaderboard at the weather-hit Queen’s Cup following an opening five-under-par 66 today.
The
49-year-old former double Asian Tour number one used an old set of
irons at Santiburi Samui Country Club to propel his quest for an
unprecedented third Queen’s Cup title and 19th Asian Tour victory.
American
rookie Sam Chien stood at five-under with one hole remaining when a
thunderstorm halted play at 4.20pm. Round one will resume at 6.30am
Friday with round two now starting at 7am.
Thailand’s Gunn Charaoenkul sank an
opening eagle en route to a 67 to lead the chasing pack at the
US$300,000 tournament while Chinese Taipei’s Lu Wei-chih was amongst
those bunched a further shot back on 68 after he dropped three shots
over his closing two holes.
South Korea’s Jeunghun Wang, the highest
ranked player in the field, China’s Liang Wen-chong and title holder
Prayad Marksaeng enjoyed solid starts with 69s.
The unorthodox swinging Thaworn has
endured lacklustre form during the opening half of the year but
returning to his happy hunting ground and reverting to old clubs proved
to be the perfect riposte.
“I’m always happy to come back and play well here,” beamed Thaworn, winner in 2012 and 2014.
“I’ve
been trying hard to improve my game. I’ve been working hard on my
irons, and have used many different sets recently. I’ve now gone back to
old irons which I played well with before and won tournaments with. I
have a good feeling with
this old set,” added the Thai, who made five birdies on the card.
Gunn,
24, sank his approach shot for an eagle two on the first
hole to enjoy his lowest round at Santiburi Samui, which is nicknamed
the Beast of Samui due to its difficulty.
“This is probably my best round here
in five years. I had a great opening hole, hit an eagle on the first and
I managed to keep the momentum going with a par save on two,” said
Gunn.
“There
was a (tree) branch in my line but I went for it. I thought if I hit a
full 52 degree wedge, even if I hit it over, I would be safe as the pin
was in front. My ball hit the branch a bit, and l saw it make the front
of the green.
When I walked up, I couldn’t find it … looked into the hole and there
it was!”
The
37-year-old Lu was poised to top the leaderboard as he was seven-under
through 16 holes before errant drives proved costly as he dropped three
shots to stumble home.
“I’m
not happy,” said Lu, who underwent surgery to remove a non-malignant
tumour in the brain in 2012. “Played well in the first 16 holes as I was
hitting my second shots close and made some putts.”
Wang,
winner of back-to-back tournaments in Morocco and Mauritius last month
and ranked second on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, launched his title
quest with a solid 69 despite a lack of sleep.
“It’s
a pretty good round considering I didn’t sleep too well last night. The
greens are different compared to Europe, so I was quite confused
initially. But I’ve played on this course many times before so I know
the course,” said the 20-year-old.
The
slender South Korean nearly produced the shot of the day on the par three
fifth hole when a five iron tee shot hit the flagstick and the ball
stayed out of the cup. A slight tweak of his backswing also proved
effective for Wang.
“I
think I hit it well today. I wasn’t hitting the irons on the sweet
spot, so I just changed my backswing. I’m getting the right distances
but the direction was a bit off. But this is a good start.”
LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
par 71. Yardage: 6,808
66 - Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA).
67 - Gunn CHAROENKUL (THA).
68 - Sorachut HANSAPIBAN (THA), LU Wei-chih (TPE), Nitithorn THIPPONG (THA).
69 - Settee PRAKONGVECH (THA), Jeunghun WANG (KOR), Prayad MARKSAENG (THA), LIANG Wen-chong (CHN).
70
- Wisut ARTJANAWAT (THA), Piya SWANGARUNPORN (THA), Antonio LASCUNA
(PHI), Natthapong NIYOMCHON (THA), Phanuvich ONCHU (THA), Rattanon
WANNASRICHAN (THA), Itthipat BURANATANYARAT (THA), Namchok TANTIPOKHAKUL
(THA).
71
- Simon GRIFFITHS (ENG), Poosit SUPUPRAMAI (THA), Jbe KRUGER (RSA),
Adam GROOM (AUS), Poom SAKSANSIN (THA), Wolmer MURILLO (VEN).
Labels: ASIAN TOUR
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